Lift those hands up!

BEST NEWS EVER: Erjon's mother is out of the hospital and back at home! When I got this news, I was smiling ear to ear jumping for joy! Continue to lift her health up so she is able to stay healthy, doing the Father's work in her home town.

Well, this week has been a busy one! Besides my various adventures on Monday and Tuesday, I have been busy meeting with people for coffee which has become sort of like a full time job. It is an especially hard job when you meet with people in the middle of the day in 95 degree heat for around 1-2 hours! Going to coffee is what people do here... It doesn't matter what time of day or what time of year; it's how people hang out and it brings people together. My favorite phrase has become "nje gote uje, ju luten" which means, "A glass of water, please" :) Going to "coffee" (or whatever you choose to drink!) is our main way of getting to know the students and building relationships with them. It may not sound like much, but I have already been able to have some really great conversations in reference to the one above all things. I will be very sad when I go back to the USA and order a coffee and not only will it not be as good, but it will cost 6 times as much and will be 4 times as big. I like my little petite coffees that only cost 50 cents!

Last night, we had a movie night for girls and it was a wonderful time! We set up a projector and played Father of the Bride for us to watch and the girls really liked it. Too bad the power went out in the last 10 minutes... it figures! :) I made some burnt popcorn (I don't take full responsibility for it, but I won't place blame either- haha!), and Laura made some awesome banana bread, and we cut up a huge watermelon (6 kilos that only cost around 2.20 Euros) that I actually ate a lot of. I haven't really ever liked watermelon in my whole lifetime, but the food here is so fresh that I can't help but like it! But Dad and Emily, no salt needed on the watermelon here... that would just ruin it!

I had coffee with Senada again today and she made me a really awesome necklace, bracelet, and ring out of beads. And she even made it in my favorite color! She is becoming such a sweet friend! I am going to her house next Wednesday and I am really excited about it! Going to people's houses here is kind of a big deal... like an honor, I guess you could say... so I can't wait to meet her family!


Today I ate a hamburger with meat, cheese, tomato, mayo, ketchup, egg, cucumber, and french fries on it and it was REALLY GOOD. I have learned not to ask questions about the food here. It is so different from American food, but it always ends up being really tasty! Maybe McDonald's will make a change in the States? I hope so... but that would only make people's cholesterol get even higher, so maybe not.

Tung!

While you were sleeping...

I think I experienced the most hilarious/ frustrating/ embarrassing/ disappointing/ completely fitting (considering my awful habit of getting myself into ridiculous situations) morning. Today I was supposed to get on a bus and go up to the mountains nearby to help do some work at a friend's camp there. I talked with them last night about possibly coming and sent a text message this morning saying I was coming but I needed someone to pick me up from the stop once I got up there, because the bus doesn't go the entire way up to the camp (nor do I know how to get there!). So, I'm not sure if the text went through or not, because I was sending it from one provider to another, using a special code to send it and sometimes I have heard that the text messages don't always go through...

So I was up and at 'em this morning at 6am. I left the house at 6:40 and trucked my way to the bus stop because I didn't even know which bus to get on, though I knew it was a smaller blue van looking thing. I got to the station and after talking to 2 random people, another random dude (who told me that there was no bus that goes to the mountains, only taxis... he was misinformed...), and a taxi driver who finally told me where to go. After about 5 minutes, the blue van that goes up to the mountains showed up and I piled on it with everyone else. There were many differences between me and them, but the main ones were that 1) They speak Albanian, and 2) They probably knew where they were going. I, on the other hand, was just getting on the bus to the mountains hoping that my text message had gone through and that someone would be waiting for me at a bus stop. It only occurred to me as I was on this bus full of people whom I could not communicate with, that I would be completely SOL should no one be waiting for me... so I pr*yed and kind of laughed at the situation, hoping for the best. wishful thinking...

Well, as we rode up the mountain, people would get off at random stops that didn't really look like stops and so I figured, "Surely I'm not supposed to get off here... I'll wait." So we were almost up to the end of the road, almost to where our camps will be this summer, when the last of the passengers got off. The lady had tried to communicate with me to see where I needed to go, but seeing as how I didn't speak Albanian or German, I just said I needed to go to the camp with the Americans that were around there. The driver then drove me a little further up where the road splits and the van doesn't drive anymore. We were out of the van, trying to understand each other; he was drawing me a map telling me to walk either 4km or 8km either way and I was saying, "I need a telephone!" Obviously my phone here isn't Verizon with it's "more places" slogan...

So because I didn't want to be stranded in the mountains with no phone and no idea where I was going, and because the driver thought the word camp ("kampi") meant that I was looking for a Hotel, I got back in the van and he drove me about half way back down and we stopped at "Hotel Kamp" (Of course.... my luck that the hotel would be called that, hahahaha) in search of a phone. We found some lady there (who had been smoking WAY too many cigarettes) and she got this Albanian guy to go wake up his buddy because he speaks a little English. Well, I was so thankful for that, but still no one could help me, because I couldn't get in contact with the people at the camp, and I didn't know where the camp WAS. So... we drove back down the mountain to the city.

A guy had gotten back in the van at "Hotel Kamp" and had a 044 phone (mine is a different provider that doesn't work in the mountains), and so I used it to call the people at the camp. Turns out, my stop had been almost all the way up the mountain where the driver had tried to draw me a map of other hotels to find. haha, SO... if you're one of those people who likes to skip the details and read the ending, here it is: I am now writing this blog post at 10am at my apartment. Looks like the Big Guy upstairs had other plans for me today. (I just wish He had told me that earlier because I'm running off of 4.5 hours of sleep!) hahaha "C'est la vie." Such is life! (or at least MINE, that is!)

What I've learned: I need to be more like my parents and make sure every detail is planned out before embarking on a journey. (I KNOW Dad... I know...) I need to practice my Albanian or apparently I need to learn German, because I think everyone on that bus spoke German as well! English and Spanish can only get me so far in Ks... and apparently the "kampi" is too far a distance! :)

Have a wonderful day! I am going to take a nap, and enjoy the rest of mine! :)

The Painting is OVER!

Ok, so I have realized that painting 12 classrooms is hard work! We ended up getting all cleaned up and going to dinner at the rotating restaurant here that night. They actually had things on the menu like avocados with mozzarella and various pasta dishes... rarities here for sure! I didn't try the avocados because I haven't seen one EVER at any of the stores, so I was a little skeptical, but it's nice to know that they exist here should I want one. (IF they really DO exist here, that is...) One thing I have learned about ordering food here is that even though it's on the menu, it doesn't mean that they actually have it. And also, ordering tap water is next to impossible! Everyone calls it something different so it's hilarious ordering water here. Yesterday Laura ordered water and they came out with a beer! HA! All they could do was laugh and say "no no no" and try to explain themselves better. So funny!

So far we have had camp meetings with the high school and university students. The camps will be focusing on servant leadership, where they will be learning that you don't have to be rich and famous to be a servant leader to others. We are all hoping that they learn a lot from the camps and that they put their servant leadership knowledge to good use here in the community! It's going to take many student leaders here to make a difference, but it's wonderful how things happen one day at a time. I am hopeful that one day, this city and this country will be full of servant leaders, treating others above his or herself. Until then, continue to lift this place up!

Until next time...
Katie

Be cool: paint a school.

Ok, if anyone has EVER thought badly about his or her school building, think again. Today we painted 3 classrooms (8 to go) in the local high school here and when I walked in, I was shocked. The walls are completely covered in graffiti from kids coming in and spray painting or simply writing random nonsense on the walls during class, etc. We are working with a local leadership club here and it is their project to repaint the school that they started about a year ago and are just now getting on with it. They spent some of their winter break patching holes in the walls, etc. but it is too cold to paint in the winter, so we are finally getting on that bandwagon and it will be done within the week! What a blessing it was to receive funds from the States to be able to finish this project. Their leadership club still had a lot of money to raise to be able to finish this project and we received donations from some people back home and now it's becoming a reality! THANK YOU!Here is a picture of the finished product.... I know, it doesn't look DONE, but we left the bottom portion of the wall unpainted because eventually, they are going to add molding along the midsection of the room and paint the lower half with an oil-based paint so the kids have a little challenge before them should they plan to write on the walls again. :) I hope it gets done before school starts again in the fall or else our painting will have been for nothing because the kids will just start over with their lovely art on the walls. Their mentality is that it's just normal to mess things up. They aren't that great to begin with, so what does it matter? This is a mentality that is set in many hearts here, as displayed by their other actions such as just throwing trash on the ground wherever and whenever they feel like it... I hope it will change. It will... One step at a time...

A few pictures for you!

This is Ibish, Matt, and Beni. Matt is from Oklahoma but comes to Ks at random times throughout the year. He will be helping with the University camp. Ibish is Kaylee's friend from years past, and he is a wonderful guy. She gave him a UGA hat, so now we have people sporting the red and black all over the world! Beni is Ibish's colleague who was there that day on the excursion trip as well.
Meet Drini. He has a scooter. He never speaks English to us even though he understands English and can speak a good bit of it too. He took Kaylee, Laura, and I on a ride around the city and I told him that my Dad has a motorcycle and all of a sudden he's speaking all sorts of English, asking about motorcycles and stuff. Figures! boys....... :)
This is Donjeta. She is so funny and sweet. She is one tough Albanian teacher!
Jessie... this picture is for you. I saw a pony while riding up to the place where we have camp, and thought of you. I still think ponies are really ugly, but if you like them, then I guess they're alright....
This is our dog, Mia. She is super cute and sweet, but it's sad because she doesn't have a yard to run around in now that we live in an apartment and not a house. We are trying to find her a place to live where she will be able to do more than bark at random people that pass by from our second story balcony. She's really smart and I love her! (especially because when I take her on a walk, the crowds of people part like Moses and the Red Sea because everyone here is terribly afraid of dogs! hahaha it is hilarious watching a guy who is trying to be all cocky all of a sudden jump away from us because we have a "cheni" (dog))
This is Arzana, another sweet girl. She has also given us some Albanian lessons!

Father's Day

DAD!

I wrote the previous post a day before now, but the power went out last night right when I was about to post THE POWER WENT OUT. SO... I was thinking of you at midnight last night and just wanted to say I LOVE YOU and HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Love,
-Katie

Clap for the Americans

Hello there!

Sorry I haven't updated in a few days. Our internet has been a little temperamental and we have been super busy. The combination hasn't been good for my blogging reputation. Forgive me?

As far as I know, my friend's mother is still in the hospital. She is getting better (I think) but please continue to lift her up as I know her physical heart is weak... other than that, her heart is made of gold. :)

This week has been filled with lots of coffees with the girls that we are meeting with and more language lessons. I think it's official that Albanian is the hardest language on the face of the planet to learn. It's ok though. I am willing to try and I really want to get a grasp on it! I am going to search this entire country to find a book that will help me learn when I go back to the States.

Last Thursday, we went to a nearby city and met up with Ibish, a friend of Kaylee's from years past. We got to look around the city and meet some of his students. He had come with some of his colleagues and students on an excursion and it was soooo funny getting to meet them. Kaylee and I rode on their bus for about 10 minutes, and one of his colleagues kept announcing over the loudspeaker, "Welcome the Americans!" And then everyone would clap and cheer. He kept doing it to embarass us! haha it was hilarious! Let me rephrase that: I was embarrassed. If you know Kaylee, you will know that she was NOT and quite loved the attention! haha it was a funny 10 minutes and I wished we would have come on the bus with them the whole way!

Dad, in case you are reading this, it is officially Father's Day in Ks, so I want to say HAPPY FATHER'S DAY! I am glad we got to celebrate it early since I can't be there today! I love you bunches! Make sure Emily gives you a super big hug from me, ok?

In case anyone was wondering, organized pillow fights don't work. In case anyone was wondering....organized food fights are AWESOME. I have learned both from experience. One in my back yard at home, one here.... haha, tonight we had a birthday party for a friend here and we tried the pillow fight thing... it was super funny but I didn't like having to sit still while people came at me with pillows trying to beat my face in. People get violent with a pillow in their hand! :)

I'll update again soon! This entire next week we will be working to paint 11 classrooms in the local high school here!

Please...

Please lift up a dear friend's mother (Erjon's) who is in the hospital. She will have to stay there for at least a week, though I hope her stay will be less...

Be Jealous of the Mountains Here...

So yesterday, we took a little girls day out and drove along the winding roads to the place where we will have the camps this summer. It was about an hour long drive, where we experienced numerous cows and random people walking in the middle of the street in the middle of the mountains... what they were doing there? Who knows! haha I have come to realize that I don't need to understand everything because here, there is no way for me to do that, so why try??? The funny thing about Ks is that no one here drives according to the rules. The mountain roads are tiny and huge buses and semi trucks drive on them (how? I have NO CLUE). Thankfully, we didn't meet up with any of them to OR from our trip so YAY for that. I think I would have screamed. haha! Joanna (the awesome chica we're staying with here) drove and was a baller. She handled that manual transmission up those HUGE hills like a pro. She told me she started driving a stick-shift when she was 10 so that definitely helps. :) Ruston, if you're reading this... aren't you glad I didn't drive???? hahahaha

We have had a great time getting coffee with a few of the girls here and I am slowly but surely getting to know some of the students. It's wonderful here and the kids all have such a funny sense of humor! They are a joy to be around!


Here is a picture of Laura, Me, Kaylee, and Joanna at my favorite restaurant!

HI! Ok, so we have wireless internet at our apartment (yes, we are spoiled I think). I will put some pictures of our apartment once I get all unpacked and can put up a picture of a clean room so my dad won't have a heart attack at how messy it is right now. (heehee) We still have to get a few storage units for clothes and other random things because there aren't any shelves in our room. Laura and I are sharing a room and Kaylee sleeps all by herself in the next room. We figured she's shared a room with me long enough that she shouldn't have to suffer anymore. Now it's Laura's turn... muahahaha

We had our first little Albanian lesson today and it was funny because I knew that I had a lot to learn, but didn't know that it was going to be so hard! PLEASE be pr*ying for quick learning!

So I have exciting news for Sherry and Lance... apparently there is RC cola in Ks. haha, on the way home from the airport, I saw this truck (actually, we passed this truck b/c it was driving so SLOW). I thought it was funny and it made me think of you guys!





We walked around today and saw a lot of the city today and it was really funny watching people's reaction to us. Needless to say, there aren't many foreigners here so people would stop their conversations to look at us. There are a few gypsy children that come to the city and beg for money (we only saw 2 kids today so there aren't many, I don't think), but one little boy followed us down the street and despite us telling him to go away, he didn't. When we finally went to cross the street, he walked away...right after slapping my butt. I would have liked to tell him off, but considering I don't know Albanian, I just gave him an evil glare and left it at that. (I didn't think hurting an Albanian child my second day in the city would set a very good reputation...haha!) Hopefully that will be my first and only experience like that. :)

The pictures below are of the city, taken from the top of a rotating restaurant they have here. Pretty fancy for this little town! Actually, I was expecting this city to be smaller, but it is actually quite large! My favorite part is that you look up, and there are the mountains. I love it here already. Our Father made some pretty amazing scenery and I am blessed to lay eyes on it every day here!















My new favorite drink is Fanta EXOTICA! It's yum. They also have all sorts of juices here. Today I tried Peach (Kaylee's favorite) and blueberry. They were both really good! So the food...is AWESOME. And really cheap for the amount of food you get. Perfect for Katie the cheapo.


Anyway, I love you guys and pr*y you are well. I am feeling nice and healthy so no worries about that, ok parents? haha, and feel better--- we have a doctor's office below us, an ambulance place across the street, and a pharmacy a few doors down. If I get sick, I'm all good. :) But hopefully, I won't get sick.... knock on wood.... :)

Tung, (bye)

-Katie

p.s. I am going to try and get emails together to send out an email for those who don't check the blog (or even those who do I guess). I know that I don't have everyone's email address, so please send it to me at katiembrewer@gmail.com! Also, that is my skype name as well, so add me on skype and we can video chat for free!

Home Sweet Home

Well, WE MADE IT! The flights were ok, even though there were about 587234917830123812 babies on the second flight. haha, ok it wasn't that bad. By the second flight, i was soooooo tired because I think it was around 6am Georgia time when our flight from England to Kosova left and we had only slept about 2 hours MAX! We arrived safely and met up with Joanna, the sweet full time person that we will be living with this summer. We are staying with her in the cutest apartment you have ever seen (apparently it came furnished when she moved in! It's really modern looking, unlike most every other home in Ks.) We ate dinner at a place that Kaylee and Laura reallllllly love from years past and I can already tell it's going to be my favorite place as well. I will take more pictures and post them soon! We are getting our individual computers set up with the wireless tomorrow and starting our first Albanian lessons, thank goodness!

I feel so blessed to be here and can already tell I am going to love every minute I am here. I can't wait to meet the kids that will be at the camps this summer! We will be meeting them soon!

Naten e mire, (good night!)

-Katie